In The Driver's Seat (Volume XVII Issue 1, January - June 2009)

by: Curtis Jacobson

You're reading the one and only car magazine that's focused on serious performance
upgrades for classic British sports cars. We also feature British cars that originally
came with V8 engines. Our mission is to provide a diverse range of quality content:
entertaining, educational, technical, and inspirational. Other websites and magazines
"sell the sizzle", but we serve the whole steak. We use as many large, close-up photos
as it takes to tell each story completely.

Our niche of the British car hobby isn't the largest, but it's by far the most vibrant
and the fastest growing. The term "resto-mod" describes it: today's enthusiasts want to
combine classic styling with modern performance, and they demand modern reliability.

I wrote in my last "Driver's Seat" column that bundling articles together makes a lot
more sense for a printed newsletter than it does for a huge, free, online resource.
It clearly makes sense to redesign this website so articles can be published continuously
throughout the year - rewarding readers with more timely articles - but I haven't
found time to implement that change yet. So, here we have yet another oversized bundle
of articles that's far too large for anyone to read and digest in one sitting:
45 articles and over 1300 color photos!

Frankly, this edition of BritishV8 is extremely overdue... so without further ado we're
going to "publish" it. Coverage of two important events: our annual meet and the historic
gathering of MGB GT V8 race cars at Virginia International Raceway - both which occurred
in June - will have to be delayed a little longer..

BritishV8 2009 June 7 - 10 Durham, NC

Full coverage of this year's annual meet will be published soon. I'll just give you a
quick summary here. Meeting coordinators Max Fulton and Emily Turner delivered a fantastically
packed schedule of exciting and unique activities. Everything on the agenda went off without
hitch. Our time was filled from Sunday evening though Wednesday night. We enjoyed informative
Tech Sessions plus a "show and tell" session where we got a nice variety of conversions onto
the car lifts at Flying Circus English Cars. We continued from there to a chassis dynomometer
where many of us tested and quantified the performance of our cars. (A few of us discovered
ways to improve our tuning on the dyno.) We also toured a truly top-flight machine shop and
a race car prep shop. As a bonus, some of us snuck in a tour of a vintage race car restoration
shop. Most of our group enjoyed an afternoon of karting at Virginia International Raceway's
go-cart track. There were various dining and socializing events, and we wrapped things up with
particularly wonderful closing banquet and auction. Again, full coverage of BritishV8 2009
is forthcoming.

Five MGB GT V8 racecars recently met at Virginia International Raceway
Stay tuned to BritishV8 for full coverage of this historic development.

I was interested in making some suspension modifications on my MGB, and I wondered how MGB
racers had addressed the problem. A careful internet search revealed that there is no website
anywhere in the world that shows a broad cross-section of British race cars as methodically
as BritishV8 shows British hot rods.

Why not extend Kurt Schley's "How It Was Done" methodology to race cars? BritishRaceCar.com
is a brand new website with exactly that purpose. We'll "present British race cars in greater
technical detail than you'll find elsewhere. Some pithy historical notes for context... but
British Racecar is really all about design and construction, and especially about how cars
have been modified for racing." I'm confident existing BritishV8 readers will enjoy our new
sister website, and that BritishRaceCar.com will help BritishV8 reach more readers, advertisers,
and enthusiasts too.

The BritishV8 Forum Continues its Remarkable Growth

How big is the BritishV8 message board? Already, over 10,000 messages have been posted on over
1300 topics, and over 500 different registered users have participated in these discussions.
Why is our forum growing so fast? Yes, frankly, the BritishV8 message board is easier to use
than many other forums. Yes, frankly, it does do a better job of displaying photos. However,
the fundamental reason for our forum's success is its community: more friendly, more helpful,
more diverse, and more universally enthusiastic about radical performance upgrades to classic
British sports cars.

Enjoying this online magazine? BritishV8 is funded through the generous support of readers like you!
To contribute to our operating budget, please click here and follow the instructions.
(Suggested contribution is twenty bucks per year. Feel free to give more!)

BritishV8 is a Volunteer Effort

BritishV8 Magazine and website represent the work of many people. Please take a moment
to reflect on all the folks who've contributed articles, photos, and information.
The website couldn't thrive without them. Many thanks are also due to all the financial
supporters who have voluntarily chipped in funds to help us keep meet expenses. If it
weren't for their support, we'd certainly have to sell subscriptions (and that would severely
limit our ability to reach new enthusiasts.) A full and up-to-date listing of financial
supporters can always be found here:
V.I.P. Contributor List.

Now More Than Ever: PLEASE THANK OUR VENDOR SPONSORS!

The biggest portion of our operating budget comes from advertisers. Our vendor
sponsors are businessmen, and they NEED to KNOW their advertising investments are
returning meaningful exposure and good will. They'll believe it when they
hear it from customers like you.

Every single one of our sponsors is friendly, knowledgeable, and will help you with
anything they can.

Now I've said this before but I'll say it again: to improve the performance of your
car, pick up your telephone and start asking BritishV8 sponsors what cool stuff
they've got. They're continuously developing and introducing new products. It's
remarkable how much of their best stuff is under-advertised. "Click"
on their ads! Call them. Ask questions. Here's the contact info you need:
BritishV8's Handy Vendor Directory!